October wellness program activities

Healthy Workplace Month

Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month is supported by Excellence Canada and includes a plethora of ideas and resources. Have each of your leaders subscribe to the Psychologically safe leader email series to learn strategies to support well-being all year round.

Women’s History Month

This is a time to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women and girls across the country. Consider promoting awareness within your workplace with information, ideas and shareables from the Government of Canada.

National Senior's Day & International Day of Older Persons

October 1

Find information and events from United Nations to help staff recognize and honour seniors in our workplaces and our lives.

Yom Kippur

October 1 - 2

For more information see cultural celebrations.

Mental Illness Awareness Week

October 6 - 12

This week is an ideal opportunity to educate everyone in the workplace about mental illnesses, increase understanding and address myths or stereotypes. Making this part of your annual wellness strategy normalizes the topic, rather than addressing it only after an employee experiences a mental illness.

• One of the best approaches to busting stereotypes is to have someone who has recovered from mental illness talk about their journey.
• If you cannot hire a professional speaker to do this, consider hosting an event to show a video of real people who have had this experience. These free mental health awareness videos can help you share the experiences of employees who live and work with mental illness.
• Another important activity is helping co-workers feel comfortable and safe when working with someone who may be experiencing a mental illness. In addition to the video session, you could share resources, such as Helping Troubled Co-workers.
• These collections of audio clips help individuals manage anxious or depressive thoughts through self-regulations techniques.

International week of happiness at work

October 6 - 10

Everybody wants to be happy, including at work – where we spend a large amount of our time. Plus, when we are happy at work, we are likely to also be happier in the rest of our life. We believe that Happiness at Work should be on the list of top priorities of all organizations, big and small, national and international.

World Mental Health Day

October 10

Find information, events and resources about mental health to share with staff from the World Health Organization or the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Diwali

October 20

For more information see cultural celebrations.

Putting psychological and social support on the agenda

Learn how to facilitate a team discussion to address psychological and social support in the workplace. This resource includes a guide and slides to help you get started.

The bottom line: you’re only human

The bottom line is you define how you show up in the world and how you control your work-life balance. None of us will escape challenges and hardships but developing our resilience and choosing to seek balance every day can help. Remember you’re only human and basic human needs drive all behaviour. See what drives behaviour to learn more.

Emotional triggers

This activity helps us understand our own emotional triggers in order to choose an effective response rather than react to the emotion.